October 6, 2009

Charlotte, NC -- A little elbow grease goes a long way to clean up local creeks and lakes.

More than 600 people took part in Charlotte-Mecklenburg's annual cleanup of creeks and lakes on October 3. Those volunteers collected more than 4 tons of trash, mostly bottles, cans, food wrappers and other litter.

In addition to removing 423 bags of garbage and 30 tires, the Big Sweepers hauled in:

• A scooter,
• A parking ticket, and
• A rubber chicken!

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services organized the day-long cleanup at seven staffed locations. Volunteers could also select any creek convenient to them and report their Big Sweep collection results online.

This year a special partnership with Bank of America brought out dozens of volunteers to the Irwin Creek Greenway location.

"It's great to see so many people volunteer their time to help keep our environment clean," says, Erin Oliverio, Big Sweep coordinator. "There's no way we could keep an eye on our nearly 3,000 miles of creeks in Mecklenburg County without the help of citizens."

Trash in creeks and lakes is not just ugly. It can threaten wildlife and impact our drinking water supply.